


the space that unveils (when i open my eyes)

by subsequence (precedence)



Series: i saw you in my dreams (this scene is déjà vu) [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (hyuck waxes poetic about mark for a hot minute), (in a way!), (my apologies for projecting), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Established Relationship, M/M, Mystery, Parallel Universes, Rated T for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29554947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/precedence/pseuds/subsequence
Summary: When he looks over, Mark Lee is already looking back.Donghyuck knows, from his time down a rabbit hole on the internet, that the average human blinks ten to twenty times per minute, and blinks only last one-tenth of a second. It's an inconsequential thing, it should be an inconsequential thing.For a moment, the sun shines particularly bright through the windows, casting Mark in a beautiful golden hue, and Donghyuck blinks.He opens his eyes, and Mark is gone.In which, there's something about Mark Lee that makes Donghyuck want to simultaneously kiss him and get as far away from him as possible.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: i saw you in my dreams (this scene is déjà vu) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173446
Comments: 13
Kudos: 109
Collections: Challenge #5 — I heard a secret..





	the space that unveils (when i open my eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> for the fifth round of a little wonder fest! thank you once again to the mods for organising, i had a lot of fun with writing this :D

Mark Lee has been sitting two seats away from Donghyuck in AP Calculus for the past semester, and Donghyuck is… for the lack of a better word, enchanted.

And no, before you say it, it isn’t just because his face looks like it's been sculpted by the gods.

That’s not the sole reason, anyway.

Mark Lee is one of his fellow back-row students. This is AP Calc, so most of them are there by choice — the back row isn’t the troublemakers’ row, like it usually turns out to be. Instead, it’s reserved for people like Donghyuck who easily ace the subject. You couldn’t pay him to listen in class, because there are so many better things worth paying attention to.

Namely, Mark Lee’s smile. 

Donghyuck hadn’t expected to see Mark Lee smile within the five hours of this class they sit through every week. Their teacher isn’t exactly the kind to draw laughs from his students during lessons. No, Donghyuck was hoping to coax it out of him in bits and pieces, the way he’s done with so many other people before. But when Mark Lee zones out during class just like Donghyuck — he spins his pencil, taps his foot, and doodles on the margins of his worksheets — he does it all the while wearing a wry smile. It’s a delicate thing, the upturn of the edges of his lips, and it drives Donghyuck _insane_.

And Donghyuck has never met his gaze, before, but he’s watched Mark long enough to know how to track the quick, bright way they move, focused on the front of the classroom. He wants, so badly, to figure out — what amusement could he possibly derive from this dreadful class? 

Most of all, Donghyuck wants that smile to be directed at him, for once. He wants to see those quick eyes fixate on him and hold his gaze, wants to have his breath taken away by Mark Lee.

These are the thoughts that fill his head every Calculus period, until the bell rings and the quiet of the classroom is ruined, and Donghyuck realises, with a start, that these are strange thoughts to be having about a boy he’s never talked to before.

* * *

So naturally, he decides to do something about it.

“... so I told Jeno that- Donghyuck?” Jaemin wiggles his fingers in front of Donghyuck’s face, startling Donghyuck out of his thoughts. Jaemin doesn’t look annoyed, only concerned, which is one of the best things about him. “You doing good, dude?”

“Huh?” Donghyuck shakes his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, sorry Jaem, zoned out for a bit. What were you saying about Jeno?”

Jaemin waves his hand as if to dismiss the matter. “No, forget about that. What’s going on with you?”

“I,” Donghyuck starts, “Have decided to do something that isn’t nearly as impulsive as all the other things that I do.”

Jaemin raises an eyebrow. “Sounds okay so far… is the shock of that getting to you? Is finally growing up doing things to your brain?”

Donghyuck swats at his shoulder. “Shut the fuck up. No, this is weird. It’s like… it’s literally not even a big deal, but it’s making me nervous, for some reason. Other than the obvious, which is the fact that I’m totally, one-hundred percent into him. But it feels like something bad is going to happen.”

“Wait, hold up, hold up,” Jaemin says, a lips pulling up into shit-eating grin. “Before we unpack the rest of that. Who’s this poor, unfortunate boy you’re totally, one-hundred percent, into?”

“This is why we never tell you things, Nana,” Donghyuck grumbles, shutting his own locker door forcefully. A beat later, he mumbles, “It’s Mark Lee from Calc.”

He expects Jaemin to put him in a headlock, maybe, and ruffle his head for finally getting his head out of his ass and into the dating scene. Or maybe Jaemin will be feeling less ruthless than usual (unlikely) and will just squish his cheeks and coo proudly.

Instead, he does none of these things. He freezes, leans slowly against the row of lockers, and sinks down to the floor.

Donghyuck panics. “Jaemin? Jaemin-ah, are you okay?”

Jaemin clutches at Donghyuck’s hand as Donghyuck squats down next to him. Other people in the hallway are all looking at them and whispering — downsides of being as popular as Jaemin is — but Donghyuck tunes them all out, reaching out to shake Jaemin’s shoulders as gently as he can. 

“Don’t do it.”

Jaemin’s voice comes out shaky, and when he meets Donghyuck’s eyes, his own are blown wide. 

“Donghyuck-ah, Donghyuck-ah, I don’t even know who Mark Lee is, but It’s like, every atom in me is screaming for you not to get close to him. But I have no clue why. Does that make sense? Hyuck, tell me it makes sense, please.”

His lips quiver, and his face is pale, and he looks genuinely terrified. He’s making Donghyuck feel a little terrified, too. That sinking feeling in his gut every time he thinks about Mark Lee intensifies into something that’s almost familiar.

Donghyuck swallows it down and forces a smile. “It’s fine, Jaem. It’s just your overprotectiveness, or something. Don’t worry too much, okay? I swear, I’m just going to talk to him.”

He manages to convince Jaemin to calm down before it’s time to leave for their next class, which is good. The sinking feeling in his gut is strong, but the inexplicable pull in his chest is stronger, still. 

He’s going to talk to Mark Lee, and nothing can stop him.

* * *

Nothing can stop him, except for maybe this:

It starts out fine — Donghyuck shows up to class five minutes early, and Mark Lee is the only other person there, looking out the window from his seat. Triumphant, Donghyuck walks up to the desk beside him and drags the chair out to plop himself onto the seat, as casually as he can.

When he looks over, Mark Lee is already looking back. 

Donghyuck knows, from his time down a rabbit hole on the internet, that the average human blinks ten to twenty times per minute, and blinks only last one-tenth of a second. It's an inconsequential thing, it should be an inconsequential thing. For a moment, the sun shines particularly bright through the windows, casting Mark in a beautiful golden hue, and Donghyuck blinks.

He opens his eyes, and Mark is gone.

* * *

> **Naver Search:** can humans disappear—
> 
> _Delete your search?_ _Yes_

> **Naver Search:** teleportation—
> 
> _Delete your search?_ _Yes_

> **Naver Search:** is it an imaginary friend if we’re not actually friends
> 
> _19,100,000 results (0.65 seconds) _
> 
> Does everyone have an imaginary friend?
> 
> Imaginary friends are a common—and normal—manifestation for many kids across many stages of development. In fact, by age 7, 65 percent of children will have had an imaginary friend, according to a 2004 study. ... Imaginary friends are a symptom of developing social intelligence in a kid.

Donghyuck shuts his laptop, closes his eyes, rests his head on the table. On the floor beside him lies his sketchbook, the page almost wrinkled and stained with dark pencil marks he’s unable to erase. 

For all his staring at Mark Lee, Donghyuck can’t seem to recall his face.

* * *

The next day, Donghyuck marches into AP Calc, five minutes early, and stalks to the back row without any preamble. He reaches out and grabs Mark Lee by the collar, not pausing even as the other struggles. 

Mark Lee's strong, but he’s been caught by surprise and Donghyuck maintains an iron grip. “Who are you?” he snarls, eyes fixed on the growing panic on Mark Lee’s face.

“Dude, can you please let me go? I’m not going to run away, we can talk this out?”  
  
Huh, this is the first time he’s heard Mark speak. He has a nice voice, too, calm and soothing. If it were under other circumstances, Donghyuck would swoon a little bit, but Mark's careful words and his reasonable tone only serve to confirm his suspicions. 

"There's something off, here, isn't there?" Donghyuck blurts out. "This isn't just in my head, is it? You know something, don't you?"

He eases his grip a little as his head starts to spin. Mark narrows his eyes at this. "Have you not blinked since you got here? Have you been trying not to close your eyes?"

"Don't counter my questions with more questions, Mark Lee," Donghyuck says, as his eyes start to itch. "If I close my eyes, you're going to disappear again."

He tries not to let himself get affected when Mark's gaze softens. Some stupid fucking Pavlovian response in him wants to melt at that, which really doesn't make any sense. Donghyuck is so, so sick of this, of not knowing who Mark Lee is and why he's making him feel this way.

To his credit, Mark is sympathetic. "I swear I'm not going to disappear," he says, slowly, as though speaking to a wounded animal, "And if you let me explain, I can show you how it wasn't my fault, the last time."

He's been impressively resolute in not blinking, so far, so maybe that's what Mark's taking pity on.

As Donghyuck lets go of his collar, he can't help but feel miffed. "You literally just acknowledged that you disappeared, yesterday. How are you so calm about this?"

And lo and behold, Mark Lee smiles. It's that same goddamn smile, the soft, amused one that crinkles the corners of his eyes ever-so-slightly. 

"Because, Donghyuck," says Mark, "This is far from my first time meeting you."

* * *

He explains over lunch, and Donghyuck has his nth aneurysm within the last twenty-four hours.

“You mean to tell me,” he starts, as they get up from their table at the cafeteria and begin walking back to class, “That you’re from a parallel universe.”

Mark squints at him, lips twisting into a frown. It’s too cute for Donghyuck to want to alleviate his displeasure. “Donghyuck, I literally gave you a twenty-minute mini-lecture on the time-space continuum, and you’re telling me that’s all you got from it?”

“Okay, first of all,” Donghyuck elbows him sharply in the ribs, “You didn’t even let me finish, so that was rude of you. You can’t go making assumptions about my intelligence all on your own, Mark Lee. Not sure if you’ve been paying attention, all the way from your universe, but I’m the smartest kid in that class.”

“In this universe, and all the others,” says Mark, _oh_ , there’s that smile again. It’s tinged with a touch of fondness, this time. It warms Donghyuck from the centre of his chest, but in a way, also looks wrong. Which Donghyuck is Mark thinking of when he smiles like that? What memories does he have of his own Donghyuck, or many different versions of Donghyuck, for him to smile like that?

He doesn't know if he's okay with getting this kind of treatment from Mark Lee without earning it for himself, in the first place. Doesn't know if he wants it that way.

This whole multiverse thing is getting decidedly less cooler. 

“Let me continue, Mark Lee,” Donghyuck says flatly. “You’re from a parallel universe. Our universes, and other universes, all intersect at random points throughout the world because of reasons you haven’t figured out yet.”

Mark nods excitedly when he sees Donghyuck getting it, but pouts as Donghyuck finishes his sentence. “It’s not so easy, okay! I don’t have a lot of people to talk to about this. All I know is there are forces in the multiverse that try to close up these rifts, but for some reason they always open up again. I don’t know if these forces have physical manifestations of whatever. I’ve tried, and other versions of me have tried, but they haven’t responded to us.”

Donghyuck gets the mental image of Mark Lee screaming from their school’s rooftop for these forces to notice him, and snorts. He focuses on one part of Mark’s sentence, though. “Yeah, the whole thing with multiple versions of you. How does that work? What are the differences between each universe? If you’re living life in your own linear timeline, how do you have shared memories of the same time frame, like when you meet me?”

Mark tilts his head, considering Donghyuck’s words. Donghyuck likes the way he takes time to consider them, turning them over in his head. He begins to answer, but then a horrible thought occurs to Donghyuck. “Have you been stuck in high school forever, Mark Lee?”

Mark turns a bright red at this, and that inexplicable familiarity is back, again. Making him flustered feels like a personal victory for Donghyuck, but it feels so good that he's not going to question it too much.

"Okay, no," Mark splutters, "Please don't put it like that."

“Good,” Donghyuck says decisively, “Because I can’t be-”

He’s about to say, _crushing on an actual grandpa_ , but catches himself at the last minute.

“Hyuck?” Mark says, and _oh, no_ , that shouldn’t be allowed. “You can’t be what?”

Donghyuck shoves his shoulder into Mark’s. "You were saying?"

Mark startles, "Right. No, it's more like- you know how, when you were younger? You would've been aware that at some point, you'd be seventeen."

"I don't know, man, I was too reckless to have thought about even making it to seventeen."

"Shut up," Mark says, flicking the back of Donghyuck's hand. "Let me finish. In the future, too, you're always going to remember being seventeen, right?"

Donghyuck pauses to consider this, though he can't resist teasing as he processes the concept in his mind. "If I don't end up stuck in junior year for the rest of my life, then yeah, sure. I don't think I'd remember it fondly, though."

Mark groans. "Okay, fine, but you get the point, right? When your parents found out they were going to have you, they would have known that at some point, you'd be seventeen, too. And your grandchildren would also know that at some point, you were seventeen, too. From what I've figured out, each of these different... perceptions, of your existence, belong to one universe."

"Because you happen to take AP Calc in that particular classroom, and have passed through that particular rift," Mark finishes triumphantly, "It's your existence and the people surrounding you who overlap between worlds. The rest of the world's population, excluding people like us, and the people we're closest too? They're entirely different on each universe."

"Huh." Donghyuck takes a moment to let that sink in. 

Mark seems to get it — or at least, he seems to have the memories of seeing several different versions of Donghyuck go through this same process. Whatever reason it is, Donghyuck's grateful for his patience.

Another question comes to mind, and with it, returns that gaping feeling in his chest. The feeling simultaneous with the inexplicable fondness for Mark Lee that he holds. "Mark," Donghyuck says, slowly, "Why is it that you're the only one who has these memories? If different versions of me exist, too, then why don't I experience the same thing? What makes us different?"

Mark's face pales, and Donghyuck knows he's struck upon something important. "Listen, I told you, I still don't know enough about the multiverse..."

Donghyuck refuses to accept it, not when somehow, to Donghyuck's eyes, everything in Mark's expression seems to be a very clear tell that he's lying. "You're lying," Donghyuck says, sure of it. "You do know something."

Mark bites his lip, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. He looks genuinely troubled, and not at all secretive. If Donghyuck just presses further-

"If you just push harder," Mark says, miserably, "You'll only push the boundaries further and make those forces try harder to close the rift. Is that what you want, Donghyuck?"

They're standing in the empty pathway in between the cafeteria and their school building, the air between them still and the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Yet Donghyuck hears Mark's voice, a ringing sound in the distance. _Is this what you want for us? Why do you do this, every time? Why are you doing this to me, Hyuck?_

And all of a sudden, everything clicks into place. Jaemin's breakdown in the hallway, Mark's eyes dancing as he watches an invisible figure at the front of their classroom. The aching in his chest to be near Mark Lee, and the aching in his chest from being too near him. The way he seems to know every little thing about Mark, and the way that seems to feel so wrong and so right at the same time.

"Oh my god," Donghyuck breathes, "Oh my god, Mark. Mark, I know you. I _knew_ you, didn't I? What happened to you?"

All there is on Mark's face a sad sort of satisfaction. The kind you get after being proven right, when you don't want to be. Mark's expression closes up into this blank mask, making Donghyuck want to claw it off his face. 

Then it happens again.

(Like a scene from a movie the two of them — the original two of them, from this universe — would have watched on a Saturday night. A decided not-date. Mark Lee — his own Mark Lee — picking him up even though he only lives one house over, driving him to the theatre in his second-hand bought car. Their fingers brushing as he walks Donghyuck to the door.)

It happens again, like it did just the day before. The sun brightens painfully for a moment, casting Mark in a harsh, golden light, and Donghyuck blinks.

He opens his eyes.

Mark is still there.

Donghyuck watches as the hard lines of his face soften, as his eyes widen with wonder. He lifts his arms up to survey them, taking his time to verify that yes, he hasn't disappeared. 

Then he lifts his head to look Donghyuck in the eye, any prior rage and frustration forgotten.

"We screwed up, Hyuck."

**Author's Note:**

> to be continued hehehehehe this is definitely becoming a series! look out for more if you liked this <33 kudos/comments would be much appreciated!
> 
> [twitter!](https://twitter.com/apsaranyas) | [my other fics :D](https://archiveofourown.org/users/precedence)
> 
> (some writer thoughts you're definitely not obligated to read: i really enjoyed this alw round, though it's a bit disappointing that i didn't get to finish this as early as i planned to... sorry to the mods!! but all around, i'm more satisfied with my work for this round, as compared to the last.)
> 
> (title from deja vu, because those are the vibes i was going for... also i just love dream)


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